Accents
Thankyou for reading (2)
Grateful thanks continue to those who followed thefootprints we left in the sands of 2007.How deep were the imprints we made?Did you gather pennies for your thoughts, yes, reflect as you follow? Onward to the ultimate good that—I like tothink—is the be-all and end-all of everything we do? How gratifying and encouraging if I get apositive answer—as energizing as the coffee latte I'm sipping to ward off thewinter chill.
Between breaks from baby-sitting, this winter-stuck grandmalooks back to the footprints of verbiage made in 2007, warmed up in the thoughtof your presence, dear reader. Retraceand pick with me bits and pieces hereunder:
April was a descent into the maelstrom (eerie as in the menacinglydark whirlpool in the tale of Edgar Allan Poe).Luisa Posa-Dominado, spokesperson of SELDA ((Society of Ex-Detainees forLiberation, Against Detention and for Amnesty) and Nilo Arado, national council member ofKilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (Peasant Movement of the Philippines)disappeared on the surface of the earth., April 12 to be exact. Their companion, Jose Ely "Leeboy" Garachico,Public Information Officer of KARAPATAN-Panay (the alliance of human rightsorganizations) and coordinator of ILAC (Iloilo Legal Assistance Center),was shot and left for dead. The incidenthappened in relatively peaceful Oton, my very own hometown. April and May were thus heavy with ponderingseven as we felt the pain of May Wan and Tamara, Luisa's daughters, andRosemarie and DM, wife and son of Nilo.
And so we wrote: The case of the desaparecidos boggles the mind. Denial ofaccountability makes a "disappearance" unique among human rights violations."By its very nature," states Amnesty International, "a 'disappearance' cloudsthe identity of its perpetrator. If there is no prisoner, no body, no victim,then presumably no one can be accused of having done anything." But where thereis a consistent pattern of grave human rights violations, Amnesty Internationalbelieves blame may be attributed to the government concerned—if only byimplication—under the principle that a state's primary responsibility isto protect the safety of its citizens.
Once more, my definition of the activist paraphrased thesong: steadfast to fight what seems to be an unbeatable foe, resolute to rightwhat seems to be an unrightable wrong in order to reach the seeminglyunreachable stars … [In Luing and Nilo], beats a humane and compassionate heartthat will wrestle and stand firm against the onslaught of human rightsviolations and the iniquity of an exploitative, oppressive society.
June, July till August found us in arace for the Legislators' Population Development Awards. Column after column I pushed for artificialbirth control, enjoining everyone—exhorting especially POPCOM—to rein in theexploding population. Agree or disagree,proof after proof, I reasoned out why birth control is the need of thehour. The efforts of ardentenvironmental activists, progress of civilization, and advances in science areall for naught if we won't limit our offspring.We need a less crowded world because the more we are, the sadder.
"A Brighter Day for Little Jane" was adjudged Runner-upfor Best in Opinion Writing – Print Category out of 340 entries submittednationwide. I called attention to thedeprivations of every little Juana, Maria, or Ana who ought to be born into aworld prepared to feed, clothe, and shelter them, and sustain them with thejoys of childhood.
2007 didn't slip by without our giving abooster shot to today's buzz-word: global warming, the environmentaldegradation we all can do something about.Human activities such as air pollution, deforestation, extravagant useof fossil fuels, and wanton consumerism alter the delicate balance of nature.Major changes in world climate occur such as a rise in sea level and shifts inrainfall patterns. The chemicals we have added to the atmosphere cause healthproblems. damage lakes and forests, and contaminates even the most remote areasof the earth.
Global warming affects all of mankind. That's why I was so disappointed when Time magazine came up with Russia'sVladimir Putin as its Person of the Year.Instead of the Russian president, choosing Al Gore, who copped the NobelPrize, Dec. 10, 2007 and the Oscar for his work on global warming, would havemade a strong statement for every inhabitant of Planet Earth to do somethingfor the environment.
(Comments to lagoc@hargray.com)